Building the green future

Electrical apprentice Elisabeth Aven Langeland and commission electrician Lisa Marie Mo are helping to make the Norwegian fjords greener through Havyard Group’s record series of ferries.

‘We are part of the future,’ say the two women, who are working at the shipyard and for the group that is at the forefront of the development of green ferries.

Elisabeth Aven Langeland has worked as an apprentice for Havyard Ship Technology for just over a year, during which she has worked with battery-powered ferries. Commission electrician Lisa Marie Mo moved back home to Sunnfjord from Bergen this summer. Since then, her workdays have been all about battery-powered ferries. ‘This is interesting, challenging and very exciting,’ say the two women.

Havyard Ship Technology celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. The company started out as a ferry yard. Now, this leading shipyard for battery-powered ferries has been hard at work developing new ferries. Newbuild no 136, which will be handed over to Fjord1 today, will operate the Hareid-Sulesund route in Møre og Romsdal county. The ferry is a Havyard 836 design, and the first of three new ferries that will be delivered one after the other this winter. This is also the first of a series of 12 ferries where Havyard Group delivers the design, propulsion and bridge solutions, as well as building the ferry.

Green shift on the fjords

CEO Geir Johan Bakke says that with these ferries, Havyard draws on the group’s overall expertise and collaboration between the design, electrical and yard entities. 'This way, we have managed to develop ferries with extremely low energy consumption.’

Havyard Ship Technology has delivered several battery-powered ferries in the past, and these twelve new battery-powered ferries are Havyard products through and through. This makes Havyard the biggest and leading player in the green shift on the Norwegian fjords and thereby in the world.

'Hadarøy' to Fjord 1, new building 136, Havyard 936 taking a test drive on the Sognefjord. Photo: Jørgen Kopperstad

Extremely low energy consumption

Norwegian Electric Systems delivers the bridge, automation and electrical power system, and Havyard Design & Solutions is responsible for the design. Executive Vice President of Havyard Design & Solutions, Stig Espeseth, explains that in their work on the ferries, they have used their experience of hull adaptation and digital testing of hulls in other segments such as offshore vessels, support vessels for offshore wind farms and now, finally, also the development of Kystruten.

The ferries crossing the Sulafjord transport 120 cars while consuming the same amount of energy as eight or nine medium-sized electrical cars.

'With our digital models, we let the ferry operate a virtual service. That allows us to optimise the hull in relation to the ferry's route and how it will be used. We consider hull lines, weight and equipment, currents, waves and wind conditions. This means we can hand over ferries with extremely low energy consumption.’

The ferries will run on batteries during normal operation, but they have also been equipped with biodiesel as back-up. The ferries also have tools that help the crew to keep an extra eye on energy consumption. ‘As a bonus, on this route, all the cars on board could be called “electrical” cars, since they are transported using electrical power and batteries.’

The ferries will run on batteries during normal operation, but they have also been equipped with biodiesel as back-up. The ferries also have tools that help the crew to keep an extra eye on energy consumption. ‘We deliver designs with electrical systems that ensure that the ferries are operated as economically as possible in terms of energy consumption, and the system helps the crew by suggesting how they can optimise consumption.’